Stories about life, hiking, and running and living life to the fullest.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Monday 4/14 Day 5 of Vegas Trip - Mesquite morning run

After a fairly restful night at the Virgin River Casino, I got up a bit early to go for a run. Mind you, I've been injured for the past 10+ days and for the past 5 of them, I really hadn't heard a peep from my calf. I figured it was time to go for a little jog and see what the city of Mesquite had to offer.

My calf was super quiet -- in fact, I didn't hear a peep from it. I headed west on Pioneer Blvd and what was all casinos, motels and gas stations quickly gave way to a peaceful and very idyllic subdivision. Many of the houses were upscale and sat on beautifully manicured lawns. They were mostly gated communities.

With the spring in full bloom, I could definitely smell flowers in the air. In fact, if it wasn't for the mountains in the background I would've thought I was running in the heart of Orange County, California. For a while, I was contemplating what life might be like if I retired here.

I ran to the next freeway bridge, snapping pictures as I went. I kept the pace pretty sedate, always ready to stop if my calf started to bark at me. I ran on sidewalk past golf courses and even a strip mall.

After reaching the next freeway overpass I headed back. Disaster struck when I was within eyesight of the casino. The top of my achilles started to go numb and my calf started to hurt. Not bad -- but enough to make me realize this was not good. I was smart and walked the rest of the way back, but none the less, my calf wasn't a happy camper.

After cleaning up I headed over to the casino while Shari finished getting ready. I dumped $40 into Leonidas before realizing today was NOT my lucky day. If you want to see the worst Leonidas bonus round ever, check out the video I made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDgLvCmDpNk

We ate at the buffet for under $15 before taking off. The trip went a lot faster with just 4 hours to go versus a little over 5 and we made it back to Salt Lake by 3pm.